Sounding off: Politics, greed, budget, Bucs on readers’ minds – TribLIVE

Grievance politics hurting our country

Reason 147 for leaving the Republican Party after 35 years and becoming an independent: Extremist right wing politicians in Congress would rather shut down our government and send the country into chaos than work out bipartisan solutions.

Ronald Reagan was the master of reaching across the aisle; a decade later, Bill Clinton understood the need for working through our differences to have a functional government. Now it is just about getting X/Twitter likes, interviews on Fox News and grifting — excuse me, “campaigning” — for more and more money from their gullible supporters.

This isn’t governing, it’s grievance politics and showboating. I truly hope one of our major parties starts nominating the adults in the room — but can the rest of the country get behind some common sense?

Karla Thomas

Hempfield

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Leaders should be penalized for budget inaction

Invariably, another nail-biter on funding the government is met with continuing resolution to fund the government until Nov. 17 and avoid a shutdown. This extension allows Congress another 48 days to do its work.

Have we all forgotten the long-standing fiscal year (June-July) was established in 1873? Then, in 1974, Congress changed the fiscal year to Sept. 30-Oct. 1 to allow Congress more time to work on the budgets and corresponding bills. And if one looks back over the past nearly 50 years, how many times did the government shut down, and how many continuing resolutions were enacted due to our inept Congress?

Time to enact a penalty on our elected congressional people’s pay for every day a budget is not passed by Sept. 30.

Thomas McDonnell

Greensburg

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Our Bucs have heart

I know there has been a focus on the Pirates securing their fifth losing season in a row and their 27th losing season out of the last 31, but I have to say that this is the first year in at least a decade that I was avidly listening to games in September. The core of this team is strong, their leadership in the locker room seems to have a winning attitude and for once the owner didn’t hold an annual fire sale to shed our best players.

With Oneil Cruz coming back next year, and, with hope, and with the hometown discount, having another year having Cutch back in the dugout and the locker room, I anticipate that we’ve seen the end of the Bucs’ run of losing seasons.

So, when you feel yourself getting down about the ball club in 2024, just go on You Tube and watch the highlights from the 13-12 comeback win against the Reds on Sept. 23. This team had heart, and I’m looking forward to where this core of young stars takes us next year.

Let’s go, Bucs!

Sean Cantella

Rockville, Md.

The writer is a Brighton Heights native.

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Biden worst president?

In a “reimagined” world (Democrats like to say), Joe Biden may be the greatest socialist president since FDR. However, in this world, the one that many others perceive and live in, not so much. It has been said Biden might be the worst president (including his VP) of all time.

This administration’s clown car has morphed into a clown bus with someone, or others, not named Biden driving it. Unless you are in agreement with the billions of our tax dollars that are being handed out with little or no accountability as to where they actually go and their effectiveness might explain the first sentence of my opening paragraph.

To say that flying the American flag is support for the “… Democratic Party and its leader” is disingenuous and divisive at the least (“Flags fly in support of Biden,” Sept. 24, TribLIVE). The American flag was not meant to embody any one president, person or political party, but instead to bring unity to our country. Sadly, half the country, either way you lean, is not so united.

Furthermore, with the millions of illegal immigrants that have entered our country, unity may never come back. I say this because the number of illegals that have “invaded” our country since this administration began number more than the populations of 14 U.S. states and still growing. This may concern, at least, half of our country’s citizens.

God help America and save our Constitution.

Michael J. Phillips

Lower Burrell

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Greed the motive for automaker CEOs

Recent Trib articles on the workers strike at GM and Stellantis were eye-opening. The CEOs’ compensation of $21 million to $29 million yearly is indeed staggering. Using an average of $25 million, the CEOs earn $12,000 per hour, or $96,000 a day, which is more than the yearly median household income. The CEOs earn more in one day than the average American household earns in one year. Contrasting the CEOs’ $12,000 per hour to the auto workers median salary of $38 per hour, one finds a ratio of over 300 to 1. That is excessive.

To add insult to injury, consider how GM used its profits. It handed $25 billion to Wall Street bankers and wealthy shareholders in the form of stock buybacks and dividends. Instead of rewarding the employees for concessions made during the lean years, management chose stock buybacks. Instead of lowering prices for the struggling consumer, it chose stock buybacks. Stock buybacks were considered market manipulation and therefore illegal until Reagan-era market deregulations. Maybe they should again be illegal.

GM recently closed plants in Michigan and Ohio, laying off thousands of workers and shipping jobs overseas. Instead of solidarity with the American workers and consumers, GM is thinking only of making more profits to give to Wall Street.

Sandy Kremer

Youngwood

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Presidents should serve all, not just one side

The president of the United States should strive to represent as many segments of the country as is possible and practical under our political system of government. Even the effort to do so on the part of our chief executives and representatives in the past few years has been lacking, despite campaign promises to the contrary.

President Joe Biden’s joining of UAW picket line is a case in point. Visit the sites, talk and shake hands with the workers, express understanding, offer channels for possible resolution. Yes, all fine gestures. As long as a personal interest in solving the problem is extended to all sides, whether or not they respond. Maintain some semblance of objectivity. Taking a physical stance that shuts out one party over another in a dispute is counterproductive. Barring a situation in which one party has put the other in extreme, unlawful, palpable danger, the purpose of such an appearance should be to ameliorate, not just favorably politicize the issue.

Sadly, in their drive to serve their own ends, many of our leaders, like the citizens themselves, have lost sight of their duty to serve the whole population.

Toni Aromatorio

Derry Township

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Leaders should be trying to grow Greensburg

Surely seems that the best the City of Greensburg and its leaders can do is bring in gas stations … GetGo on Main Street and now Sheetz on East Pittsburgh Street. Lots of traffic and little bang to retail and restaurant renewal.

Seems like the mayor needs to refocus/learn on how to “grow” the city. Maybe he needs to visit other small cities and see what they’ve done. I would imagine that the Trib could provide some specifics on where to go.

Dave Bonazelli

Unity